Online Student Loans Overnight

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Online Student Loans Overnight

Student loan management company Sallie Mae has developed Laureate, an Internet-based student loan application process that allows students to get loans at hyper-speed.

Students at participating schools (any school with Net access can use the service free of charge) visit a Web page that provides a pre-filled application generated from school records. They verify the info, then fill in their references, indicate the amount they want to borrow, and select a lender. Loans are approved within five minutes, and funds are available in 24 hours.

The only manual steps required are printing out the application, signing it, and mailing it to Sallie Mae.

Schools using Laureate include Whittier College in Whittier, California, Wayne State University School of Law in Detroit, and the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. An estimated 50 schools will be using the system by the end of this month, said Denise Rossitto, director of corporate communications for Sallie Mae.

"The days of waiting in line at the financial aid office are over," said Rossitto. "I'm certain that students are going to welcome this."

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Virgin Weblantic: During the month of August, Virgin Atlantic will offer its frequent flyers in the United Kingdom Internet access. The airline will mail its preferred passengers a free CD-ROM that will enable them to surf the Web. The CD-ROM will also be distributed on Virgin flights. For the price of a local phone call, users can chat online, build their own Web page, and access the entire Internet.